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by amageish



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, He/Him Pronouns for Byleth, Heartache, Heteronormativity, Homesickness, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:48:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28788213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amageish/pseuds/amageish
Summary: Lysithea and Edelgard have a impromptu tea session. It's fun for one of them....Set in FEH. All characters tagged are their Brave/Post-Canon versions (even Bernie), so spoilers are inbound.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/Lysithea von Ordelia (one-sided), Lysithea von Ordelia/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





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“Claude is insufferable!”

Edelgard blinked. She had sat down for her daily tea - alone, as had become the Emperor’s habit - when Lysithea burst into the room, critiquing her leader, her monarch, and, moreover, her lover.

Edelgard drew a breath and prepared for the worst.

“I think I would agree, but I certainly didn’t expect you would. Is everything alright, Lysithea?”

Lysithea stared at her for a few moments, as if she was just noticing her presence. 

“Oh, sorry, your highness. I, uh, thought I was alone in here…”

“It’s quite alright, Lysithea. And just Edelgard is fine! Please, feel free to take a seat.”

Lysithea stared at the chair for a moment, as if she was worried it was going to explode. After seemingly determining that not to be the case, she sat down.

An awkward silence brewed alongside the tea. 

“Would you like some cake?” Edelgard proposed, her voice coming out more timidly then she would have liked it to.

“Oh. Um. Well, if it’s just this once, sure!” Lysithea said, putting on an awkward smile and taking a slice of cake. “This, uh, is my favourite.”

_ I know. _ Edelgard thinks. “Oh, well, happy coincidences.” Edelgard says. “So… What’s between you and Claude?”

“Oh, Claude and I are fine.” Lysithea said, smiling a warm smile. “He’s honestly only been teasing me  _ less _ since we arrived in Askr. It’s his younger selves that are causing me… grievances.”

Edelgard raised an eyebrow. “I thought we had agreed not to talk to our younger selves and companions?”

“We have!” Lysithea answered, voice brimming with her frustration. “I have been committed to that. I’ve taken up a whole routine without any contact with them - I study in the mornings with Lute, spend afternoons doing missions with Anna, and spend my evenings with Claude - my Claude, my husband.” 

Her face flushes red at the word ‘husband,’ as if it was the first time she had ever said it.

It definitely wasn’t the first time. Edelgard had been trying not to keep track.

“That sounds like a lovely schedule. So, what’s the problem with it?”

“The problem is that the other Claudes have gotten wind of my relationship and seem to think they can use me for information. Use me! Like I’m going to tell them anything if they bribe me with sweets or taunt my size.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that…”

“It’s fine,” Lysithea said, distinctly not appearing fine with it. “I just… One of them sent me an invitation to tea and he signed it as  _ Kahlid _ . Kahlid! So I showed up, of course, and now he knows that I know! I just feel so… Ugh!”

“Have you spoken to your husband about it?”

“I tried! He just laughed and cracked a joke about me cheating on him with a second version of him… Like I’d do that!”

_ That smug bastard _ . Edelgard thought. “I’m sorry you aren’t getting through to him.” Edelgard said instead.

“It’s fine… I love him, but he can be… tough to get through sometimes. And… I hate to admit it, but there is something appealing in the other hims. Like, I know they aren’t mine, but they still have everything I love about him in them, right? And it just feels… weird to know they don’t feel the same way as me. I know they’ll come to love me with time, but it’s hard in the moment.”

“That… sounds painful.”

“You wouldn’t know the half of it.” Lysithea replied, biting into a slice of cake. 

_ Oh, I’m pretty sure I do…  _

“Claude’s a clever man. It’s weird to think that I may still depend on him one day.”

Lysithea let out a confused chuckle. “What. Are you planning on digging up his corpse? Goddess; did your version of Hubert get into necromancy?”

“What?” Edelgard paused, baffled. “No. Claude - er, my Claude - is alive.”

“You don’t have to lie to protect me, Edelgard. I’m not a child. I can accept that in your world Claude and I are dead, just like how in our world you are.”

Edelgard’s head was reeling. She took a deep breath, and steadied herself.

“I’m not lying, Lysithea. We spared Claude. He and Hilda fled the continent, but we have remained in contact, in case his strategies are needed in the upcoming war against Those Who Slither in the Dark.”

“You… you spared him? Don’t you think that’s a risk?”

“Of course. But the Professor thought it was the right choice, so…”

“Ooooooooooooh.” Lysithea said, the gears in her head visually turning. “So your professor told you to spare him, and you did? Was Claude’s life your wedding present for him?”

“What? It was a group decision. By is an important, steadying presence in my life, of course, but… I would like to think I would have been willing to spare Claude no matter what. He simply wasn’t the threat in the circumstances.”

Lysithea sighed. “Well, I guess I can’t pretend to understand how your war was fought, so I’ll take your word for it.”

“I would hope you would trust me…” Edelgard muttered, slightly louder than she intended to.

“I do trust you! And, uh, best of luck with the continued fight against Those Who Slither. Break some necks in… memory of me.”

_ There’s no memory to be concerned about, for you’re not dead.  _

Edelgard instead settled on just nodding. 

Lysithea grabbed another slice of cake, continuing to push on the small talk. “So, if it wasn’t the professor, then who was it?”

Edelgard almost choked on her tea.

“Who was… what?”

“Your husband, of course.” Lysithea replied, matter-of-factly. “I assume the Emperor doesn’t need to remain single?”

“Of course not.” Edelgard replied, face flushing red. “I… am engaged to a member of my court. Some even call my partner ‘The Emperor’s Wisdom.’”

“Cute nickname! It’s important to honour those around you.” Lysithea said, smiling. “I wish people recognized  _ my _ genius like that... Maybe I should talk to Claude about that...”

Edelgard, again, could only nod. 

“So, what’s your husband like? Is he from the monastery? Do I know him?”

Edelgard took a deep breadth, mentally figuring out how much to tell her.

“She’s a her, actually.” Edelgard started. 

Edelgard was, at this stage, a master of lying. She had spent years lying to people. She manipulated people, showed fake smiles, played dumb, played smart, and everything in-between. She was an expert. She worried that, without her teacher, even she would have been lost between the truths and the lies.

“And… No. You don’t know her.” Edelgard lied, badly.

Edelgard stuffed a cupcake in her face, hoping to cover up the audible noise from her heart breaking into little pieces.

“Oh dear!” Lysithea replied, her eyebrows furrowing. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to…”

“Wts fwne.” Edelgard hastfully responded, before swallowing her food. “It’s fine. I understand that people assume.”

“But _ I _ still shouldn’t.” Lysithea rebutted. “I just… haven’t met many who pursue same-sex relationships.”

_ Linhardt, Dorothea, Mercedes, Jeritza and Yuri… Heck, I think I saw the archbishop look at Shamir a few times during our academy days…  _

Edelgard simply nodded.

“I’m sorry. I just… guess I’m just not interested in women myself. It didn’t cross my mind...”

_ Ouch. That… that hurts. _

Lysithea continued. “I did meet a woman with a magical book who was newly summoned the other day! She mentioned loving a woman. Should I… introduce you?”

_ How very... straight of you. _

“I… suppose you could? I could probably stand to socialize more while here.”

“Sounds like a plan! Actually, I should go and see if Anna needs me, but it was great talking to you!"  


"It was... nice talking to you too."

Lysithea stood up and walked backs towards the door. On her way out, she flashed a brilliant, kind, well-meaning smile.

"In another world... I think you and I could have been friends."

Edelgard didn't know what to say to that. She just stared into space, watching Lysithea leave.

20 minutes later, after some tears, Edelgard figured out the words.

"I want to go home and see my wife."

The summoner let her.

She was gone.

…

Lysithea had always feared that one day she’d walk into her husband in bed with another woman. 

She was fairly certain it wouldn't happen with Claude.

Nor did she expect the woman in the bed to be Bernadetta von Varley, crying.

“Oh dear… Is everything okay?” Lysithea questioned. She knew things weren’t okay - Bernadetta, while emotional, wasn’t prone to crying in front of others when things were fine (at her age, at least) - but she felt it was polite to ask regardless.

Claude flashed her a polite smile. “Edelgard… went home today.”

“Edelgard? Like, my - er - our Edelgard?”

Bernadetta sniffled, letting go of Claude’s arm. “Y-yes. She… didn’t even say goodbye.”

“That’s so strange… I had a lovely conversation with her this afternoon. It was weird… Honestly, I think, in another life, maybe we could have been friends?”

Lysithea didn’t understand why this made Bernadetta cry harder.  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> This spun out of what was supposed to be a one-off joke in a comedy fic (Edelgard referring to her partner as Wisdom and Lysithea unknowingly complimenting the nickname), but then it became longer and angst... and the comedy fic is still unfinished. Whoops.
> 
> Also, for the record, Claude/Lysithea is super cute. I like both it and Edelgard/Lysithea; I just liked this idea of this multidimensional meeting and the complicated feelings it sparks.


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